Fate's Hand
by Dracomancer
Summary: Within the human realm exists a girl of the Triad race who seeks freedom from the demons and Mundus' control. Upon seeking out The Order, Elemiah comes in contact with the masked man himself. Will she prove her trust to him?
1. All In Good Faith

Welcome to my DmC Fanfiction Series

As a warning to readers, unless you have played the games, this will be a spoiler in many ways.

This story takes place before the events of "The Chronicles of Vergil"

The Problem with Most Fanfictions Involving OC's

-I am told by many readers that they often find fanfictions with OC's to be dull and or that the OC completely overshadows the existing characters let alone having the existing original characters completely _out of character_. This can be very frustrating for readers to the point where they loose faith in stories with OCs and just outright boycott them. I on the other hand completely understand that and also agree that, even though it is fan-fiction, that doesn't mean the original characters should be taken out of character. It should be read like a true fan-fiction and not just some made up fantasy that isn't very well developed or carefully thought out.

So what I basically do is take my OCs and carefully weave them into the existing storyline without altering the major events too much and I try my best to keep the existing characters, in character as best as possible. I have gotten many compliments on my writing as well as legitimate critiques that help further improve my stories. So I stress again that please, do not loose faith in _all_ fanfictions involving OCs. I know there is a lot of bad ones out there from what readers tell me, but that doesn't mean all of them are bad. However, I must stress a few things. Even though I leave most of the existing events alone, not _all_ of them will go untouched since specific things I write are in regards to developing my OC.

So please try to keep in mind and understand that if I take a specific event and insert my OC in placement of an existing DmC character, there are very specific reasons I am doing so. So if you plan to truly get into my series, please respect what I write as such, but rest assured, I never write a character out of character _just to fit a scene_. I always do my best to keep the canon characters _in character_.

I'm a veteran fan of the original Devil May Cry series so I have heard a slew of opinions either in distain or in support of the new DmC or the old DMC. So refrain from using the comments section as your own personal debate forum about why you hate DmC. I hate it for my own reasons too, but there's a lot I like about it as well and its not something I care to discuss. Just simply enjoy the fiction for what it is. I also have a long going original DMC fanfiction series that is still going and will continue to be written for if you prefer to go read that instead.

Elemiah's profile and design, as well as my other artwork can be found on deviantart under the username dragonkeeper333. I use the same username for Tumblr.  
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All In Good Faith

Lies

Everything in existence _was a lie_.

The false advertising…the deception…the media…the politics…even the soda were all a ploy to keep its victims under careful watch and docility.

It's all…_a lie._

With Mundus in control, every race in existence is trapped under blind slavery.

However, despite these discrepancies, there are still those in existence who have found a way to tear away the veil of false salvation. Despite the horrors, there are those who are willing to stand up and fight.

The Order

A group of vigilantes _for lack of better words_ that have come out of hiding with viral videos claiming to bring the demons down, that they have found a way to play the demons at their own game. These videos have all but one thing in common…

…a leader…a single person…a single _man_, if you could even call him that.

Everything about him? _Unknown_. He shows himself under the guise of a blue mask with jagged smiling teeth and blacked out eyes, blue gloves and a black coat. His voice was anything but clear, only distorted and unrecognizable, _irony at its finest._ The one sliver of salvation has masked itself just like the demons, but this is to be expected. Both sides have to play their cards just right so that neither can gain the upper hand over the other. However, when boiled down one has to choose a side eventually. This is the choice that Elemiah had to make. Considering both sides of the scale, The Order was the only weight that had the most value.

Searching for hours and hours on the internet to find information on The Order, Elemiah finally came to a source that showed promise. There was a chatroom hidden within an obscure backwater webpage that had members that occasional talked about The Order. Everyone that entered the chatroom was under the guise of anonymous usernames. One that stuck out in particular went under the name _VerumOrdinem_. Her angel chants were in Latin so naturally she was drawn to this username that was also in Latin. VerumOrdinem translates to _true-order_. Most of the time the chatroom spoke of The Order in theories and questions, but Verum always stood out and did their best to explain the intentions of The Order and how The Order has been making a difference. When Verum spoke out, they would get an equal amount of distain and mistrust as they would with curiosity and those seeking answers.

At first, for a while Elemiah would just observe and listen, keeping a document of everything Verum typed to keep herself constantly refreshed on Verum's wording; looking for any form of deception or false preaching, but never once she ever got the sense that this user was there to manipulate. They were simply there as a glowing beacon on a small little screen. After much consideration Elemiah finally decided to private message this user.

"Hello, TrueOrder."

"Good evening. I see you're familiar with Latin."

"I'm familiar with _many things._"

"I see."

"I have questions…many in fact."

"Well then…by all means, _ask._"

A minute paused before Elemiah replied back, "I guess the first and most obvious one is…who are you?"

A few seconds more passed before Verum responded, "All in due time."

"Not one for words?"

"Not if the words are detrimental to the cause."

"What cause?"

"Revolution."

A chill slithered its way up Elemiah's spine as she sat silently to herself within the public coffee shop that was rather crowded, but mostly quiet. Ironically enough, although the shop was mainly for coffee, most of its occupants were drinking Virility. Seeing the soda drink always brought on a sickening feeling inside, being a constant reminder of that night when Elemiah made the worst mistake of her life that led to her mother's ultimate demise. Trying not to let her thoughts wander, Elemiah brought her eyes back to her laptop screen as she continued to talk to Verum.

"Revolution…for what exactly?"

"I believe you already know the answer…otherwise…you wouldn't be talking to me directly, am I correct?"

Elemiah paused. This person was much more than they seemed, and quite perceptive even through text on a screen.

"You're right. I apologize. I will not waste your time further."

"No need to apologize. You are following your gut instincts. It's that instinct that will save you in the end. Don't. _Ignore it._"

"And what do your gut instincts _tell you?_"

"They tell me you're lost like I once was, searching through the ether of lies that have been carefully and _insidiously_ laid out over the entirety of mankind. You're searching for answers that will lead you to freedom. It is these reasons you have sought me out, carefully watching and listening intently as the days go by while you guise yourself in a simple coffee shop."

Elemiah gasped, feeling like her heart nearly leaped out of her chest as she darted her head up and looked around at all the shop's occupants. It was obvious that for a while she has been watched just as much as much as she has been _watching_. No one else in the shop had a computer of any kind and neither did any of them seem out of the ordinary or suspicious. Her heart began to race as it felt like eyes were upon her even though no one was truly there to be watching. It was then she looked up at the corner of the store and noticed a security camera that seemed to be pointed _straight at her._ Her body trembled lightly with trepidation as she finally nerved up to look back at her screen.

"You're a hacker."

"You're perceptive, but yes…I'm a hacker and quite excellent at it."

"Then you work for The Order?"

"I _am_…The Order."

Fear gripped Elemiah as she quickly snap shut her laptop. She wasn't quite sure what compelled her to do so. Was it because she feared it was the enemy that was watching her? Or did she fear _The Order itself_ even though it was the very thing she sought after? A million thoughts rushed through her head as she quickly got up and left the shop, now walking down the busy yet silent docile streets that were filled with Virility advertisements and graffiti. The sun shined brightly in the sky as she made her way through the crowds, debating on if she should open her laptop again. Was this VerumOrdinem truly the leader of The Order? Or was it someone posing as such in order to deceive, manipulate, capture and kill those who are in opposition to Mundus and his demons? She wanted to trust this user, but the fear of making the same mistake she made years ago gripped her _harder_.

Walking down the streets never was difficult before, but now that she knew someone or _something_ was consistently watching her, she felt like she was being choked by all the monitors and street cameras. Every movement she made, it was being stalked like a predator carefully hunting its prey. It was _maddening._ Not being able to ignore her impulses any longer, Elemiah darted down an empty alley way that wasn't overshadowed by monitors as she sat down and reopened her laptop once more to find that Verum was still online, _waiting for her._ At first she hesitated, but then she began to type on the keyboard like hitting keys on a piano. The desire to know more flowed through her fingertips as she fervently wrote out her responses.

"I'm sorry. I…I'm not sure what to believe."

"It's fine. Quite understandable considering I've been in your shoes once."

"Are you…really the leader of The Order? The same masked man that shows up in the viral videos on TV?"

It was a stupid question to ask…but she _had to ask it._

"Yes, but naturally you have doubts and rightfully so."

Another shiver gripped her, finding herself a bit lost in thought now. She wasn't expecting to be speaking with the man himself or whoever he was…if indeed it was him.

"How do I know you're not lieing? I have no reason to trust you."

"On the contrary. I've been watching you for quite some time. I know you've been searching endlessly to get a hold of The Order. The only reason you would pursue thusly is if you wanted things to change, if you wanted to set yourself free from the demons around you. Normally these demons would have hunted you down without hesitation, but they haven't. I have been given plenty of opportunities and evidence to prove you could easily be considered a collaborator with what the media calls us; terrorists. I could simply turn you in…_but I haven't_."

Elemiah understood what Verum was hinting at, but simultaneously it smelled of malicious intent.

"Why do I get the feeling that this is some form of black mail and not just a logical standpoint you're trying to make?"

"Because _it is._ As you said, we have no reason to trust each other. However, blackmail is a harsh way to put it. Instead…consider it…a test to prove yourself."

"Ridiculous. Why should _I_ have to prove myself _to you?_"

"Because if you have any hopes of joining or even _reaching_ The Order, this is your _one and only chance_ to take that step, otherwise you can consider yourself out of the game. Every single individual within The Order has had thorough background checks, useful skills to contribute and have proven themselves a hundred times over that they can be trusted with the sensitive information and data that is held here. If you wish to gain access than you _must_ prove yourself."

Elemiah let out a rather frustrated exhale as she considered Verum's words. What was she really to do at this point? It's the only lead she's managed to find without revealing herself to the demons all over again. It took years to hide herself away in solitude after her mother's death to give the illusion that she no longer existed and Mundus had no reason to go after her again. It's taken _even longer_ to finally be witness to a group of people who have risen up from the ashes to take a stand. She wasn't much of a leader otherwise she would have created her own organization. Now was the time to act…now was the time to _choose._

"What have you decided?"

"That entirely depends on what you need me to do."

Verum smiled from the other end, tilting his head in such a way that it cracked the joints lightly. He had been watching her for quite some time from the little he could see on the city's cameras and everything about her was pretty much unknown. He had to make sure she could be trusted.

"Are you familiar the Mason Movie Theater?"

"Yes. I've been there a few times. It's massive."

"Good. That will prove useful. The owner of the theater is Thomas McGuire. On the outside it may seem like a simple entertainment joint, but in reality the movies that are played there showcase subliminal messages."

"Wait…what? They used to do that as a simple concession gimmick back in the fifties."

"Correct, however these aren't ordinary subliminal messages. They're coded in demonic language and chants, something you specialize in."

Elemiah's eyebrows furrowed at the unveiling of things about her she had never told the man.

"You must have been watching me a lot longer than you said if you know that about me."

"Keeping watch, yes, but I won't lie, the information on you is practically nonexistent. I tried doing a background check, but nothing came up. No home address, no criminal history or even your name. It's like you're a living ghost, which means you must have been living outside the city out of reach of monitors or cameras for quite some time. It was only within the last month you started coming to the city and accessing local networks and servers, digging around in places most don't search in. What caught my final attention is when you started researching on Italian websites about incantations, chants, and spells…specifically _angelic spells._ Humans are incapable of casting the spells you were researching, which gave a strong indicator that you yourself are not human."

Elemiah tensed, unsure of if this was okay or not, but as Verum stated before…he had every opportunity to attack or point her out to the authorities, but he never did. Still, it was unnerving that someone could figure this out so quickly about her with having practically zero information on her.

"So what do you believe me to be then?"

"Only time will tell. The bottom line to this is that you understand chants, which makes you a prime candidate to take out the movie theater and its owner."

"And if I take out this theater?"

"Then you'll earn a meeting with yours truly."

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say this is a lot harder than it sounds?"

"Correct. The chants that are being displayed through these motion pictures give off a heavy hypnotic that is just as equally crippling as the Virility soda."

"You mean a lobotomy in a can?"

"Precisely. Although a vast majority of humans drink the soda, it's not possible to make sure every single human out there is drinking it. So Mundus has come up with varying tactics to control everyone through countermeasures to ensure everyone is controlled. The main danger in destroying the theater is that the sources of the chants can only be taken out through Limbo. Are you familiar with Limbo?"

"Yes…_unfortunately._"

"Good, less that needs to be explained the better, but you should know, the second biggest danger is that, depending on who or _what_ you are, you could be just as susceptible to the influences of the chants."

"If this is so dangerous than why are you sending me alone? The task seems a bit out of my league."

"Well that is for you to wager. You are presented with one of many doorways to freedom. I am simply providing you a key to one of those doorways. It is up to you to decide if you want to use the key or not, but…I never said you were going alone."

The Triad paused. She was more than willing to go on the mission whether she was alone or not, but she felt a bit more comforted by the fact that she wouldn't be alone in this.

"Who's going with me?"

"It depends on how you do."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Interpret my words however you wish."

"Fine, forget I asked."

"One step at a time. Now, first things first; I need you to go to 5th and Main within one hour. There will be a package taped underneath the blue mailbox on the corner. Do not come a second sooner or later. Further instructions will be inside the package. Bring only what you need. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Your trust thus far will not go unrewarded."

_…VerumOrdinem has left the chatroom._


	2. Pawns and Bishops

**Pawns and Bishops**

By the time Elemiah had finally made it to 5th and Main in her car, an hour had already passed by. Just as Verum stated, there was a blue mailbox on the corner of the street where everyone could place their mail or packages inside to be shipped out to their destinations. Upon parking nearby and getting out onto the street to approach the mailbox, Elemiah looked around as traffic sped by and humans walked about the intersection.

_Nothing out of the ordinary._

It was almost disappointing. Although she was instructed to neither come a second sooner nor later, she was hoping that she would at least get one glimpse of whoever placed the package under the mailbox. The natural curiosity dug at her like her desire to be set free. Nonetheless, the moment was almost exhilarating. After spending years in solitude, studying angelic chants and whatever else she could get her hands on, having a moment of actual excitement was almost foreign to her. She had forgotten what it felt like to be excited about something.

Bending over and carefully dragging her hand upon the surface underneath the mailbox, her fingers touched upon a taped package. With a firm grip she ripped it off as she slowly stood back up, looking upon the package in her hand. It was small no doubt and carefully wrapped. As determined as she was to get to The Order, a part of her still doubted…still questioned the choice she was making. It wasn't too late. She still had a chance to turn away…she still had a chance to go back home and stay within her solitude.

_"If you have any hopes of joining or even reaching The Order, this is your one and only chance to take that step, otherwise you can consider yourself out of the game."_

Verum's words echoed in her mind. She couldn't turn back. Actually…she _refused to_. As introverted in personality as she was, years of solitude take its toll and for the first time she was reminded of how badly she wanted interaction of _some kind_. She wanted a way out not just from the demons, but from loneliness.

_Deep breath._

With careful hands she finally opened the package to find that it was a thin black metallic cell phone. Seconds upon holding it, it began to lightly ring. She gasped, naturally looking up and around to see if anyone was holding a cell phone, but that proved futile as it seemed most of everyone was either texting or talking on a cell phone. It could be _any one of them_. Not wanting to waste another moment's time she finally answered the cell phone.

"H-Hello?"

"Congratulations, you've made it through step one."

The voice was even more distorted than how it appeared on the viral videos, but nonetheless it was _exactly the same._ She had no doubts now of who she was speaking to. It was indeed the masked man. A smile creased across her face.

"Thank you. I'm assuming this line is safe to speak on?"

"It's encrypted so nothing can be tracked."

"Good. Now What?"

"Go to Taylor and Marco…" she began walking immediately to her car as she listened further "…there you will find a local bank on the corner. A robust man in a pure white suit, black tie, black shoes, and slicked back brown hair will be coming out of the building. _Follow him_."

"Is that the owner of the theater?"

"Yes, but don't pursue in combat. Just simply follow. I'll contact you again once you've reached your destination."

_Click_

The masked man seemed rather diligent and _well informed_. The more handle he had on the situation to help guide her, the more Elemiah trusted him. Finally making it back to her car she got inside and started the engine. It purred upon ignition as she backed it out of the parking spot and started to make her way towards the bank. Each second seemed to speed by faster than the one previous to it. Her mother had trained her well both in combat and in incantations, but nothing could prepare her for what could possibly be coming down the road. She had never been in situations that constantly tested her wits and abilities. She had never been in dire situations except one. This was the first time she went on a mission for _anything_. This was important.

Failure is _not an option_.

The years of solitude didn't go in vain however. With Mundus and the demons believing her to be dead or simply gone, she had no true reason to worry of being followed or tracked. This gave her an advantage in the game. So making her way to the bank was fairly easy and carefree, but it didn't change the intensity of her trepidation. She was so afraid of taking a wrong step…of making a _mistake._

Her second guessing and self doubt came to a halt upon approaching the bank on the corner of Taylor and Marco. The building structure stuck out from the rest with fine architecture that seemed to stem from the 1930's. The outside was made up of brick, paneled windows, and a built in old time clock at the middle of the top. It must be at least two to three stories tall. Pulling over into another parking spot, she waited in silence and watched carefully for the description of the man Verum described. Only a few minutes went by before Thomas McGuire finally came out followed by a couple of men that seemed to act like body guards. A black sleek sedan pulled up near the front entrance as the three of them entered the car and began to drive off. Waiting for a car or two to pass by, Elemiah then drove out from the side of the street and began to discretely follow.

One block…two blocks…three…four…street after street passed by as it seemed they were making their way towards the theater.

_Perfect_

It wasn't much longer before they had finally reached the theater grounds. Elemiah followed Thomas' car where she could, but then she decided it would be best to separate entirely as she parked her car towards the back of the enormous parking lot while keeping a distant eye on where her target was parking on the other side in a reserved area under some shading trees. As Elemiah got out of her car she was given a moment to take in the sights of the theater. It had been years since she saw it, but it seemed to be just as colossal as before.

The Mason Theater was considered the third largest in the world, seating thousands of spaces for viewing pleasure on massive screens. The shape of the building itself was cylindrical with a 180 degree dome that was cut off at the entrance by a sharp cutting design that was separated into blades like the blade of a fan. Everything was lit up with moving lights that acted as the biggest eye candy display, giving off the most entertaining and welcoming entrance that seemed to beacon innocent bystanders that were completely unaware of the trap they were walking into. The rest of the building was mirror like reflective paneled sections that didn't allow anyone to see through.

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

"Hello?"

"Good, you've arrived…"

"…and currently following my target. I figure he needs to be taken out first since there's no point in destroying a building when the builder can just make another one if he manages to escape."

"Exactly. Glad to see we're on the same page."

"I'd rather save my energy and start from the top and work my way down."

Elemiah continued to follow Thomas from a long distance, occasionally ducking behind cars since his body guards were pretty aware of their surroundings.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say this guy has a demon form."

"Yes. Mundus' biggest operatives set up their main dealings in Limbo so as to avoid interruption in the physical world of any kind, but to get into Limbo—"

"—a rift is needed…except for me. I don't need one at least if I plan to go into Limbo by myself."

"So you can visibly see the location of rifts?"

"In a manner of speaking. I probably shouldn't be telling you my trade secrets, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to explain one or two since it's relevant to the mission. The rifts give off a type of aura that I can pinpoint in the demon or human realm. I don't need a rift per say to allow myself into Limbo upon command, but this ability doesn't allow me to bring anyone with me. Trust me, _I've tried._ However, if I happen to be in contact with an actual rift, I can use it to take someone with me into or out of limbo."

"Interesting. That's fine though and good to know. An ability to see rifts can become of _great use._"

"Indeed. You understand though if I…don't divulge _everything_ about myself."

"Of course. I would be just as cautious in your shoes."

Making it most of the way across the parking lot, Elemiah got behind a car as she watched Thomas enter inside the building through a side entrance meant for _employees only,_ monitored quite closely by two revolving cameras.

"Elvis has entered the building."

"Heh, very good. There should be another side entrance on the east side. There you can—"

"—not to cut you off, but there's no need for that. I know a cloaking chant, but I can only hold it for a matter of minutes. It's not a big deal though since it should be enough time to blast open the door to add as a distraction for any guards while I sneak inside undetected. I'll have to be discreet though since if I try to attack Thomas directly, I might get pulled into limbo by his body guards, alerting everyone of my presence."

"That's…a sound plan. Very well. Proceed."

The masked man smiled. It wasn't often he dealt with an individual that actually knew what they were doing without much guidance or critique. It was nice to know someone thought on the same level as himself without having to hold their hand through the process. Maybe this mission would go a lot smoother than his previous ones.

"Sorry, I mean no disrespect. Just since you don't know all my abilities yet, I figured I'd jump in and redirect the plan to a more progressive one, a plan I thought you would approve of."

"Fair enough, just try not to make a habit of it," he jested in light sarcasm.

"Heh, heh, heh, you sound pleased."

"I am."

"Does that mean I get to join?"

"Well, once you've actually _accomplished something_, then I'll…_consider it._"

Elemiah chuckled at the light bantering exchange between herself and the masked man. She was quite enjoying the exchange even if it was through distorted voicing. It helped her to relax knowing that her results thus far were perfectly satisfactory.

"Fair enough."

Elemiah waited until she was close enough to make a move, taking in a deep breath as she took her weapon in her hand.

"Condeliquesco," she whispered as her entire being was completely caked in a translucent camouflage.

Using her spiritual essence, her weapon transformed from a small looking stick into a magnificent trident as she quickly stood up and began to fire long distance icicles that sped through the air like bullets with high velocity. Upon impact the side entrance door to the building was completely demolished, causing a siren to go off at the door's location.

She waited.

Soon enough a group of guards came pouring out of the _newly renovated_ side entrance. Scurrying about in a near panic they began looking around to see if they could spot out whoever or whatever was the cause of the vandalism, but nothing was insight. Finally given a moment to make way through the guards, Elemiah rushed on over and through the entrance way. Slipping through the remaining guards that were still scurrying about inside, Elemiah found herself in a stairwell with a flight going up two to three stories and a few flights going down. Most businesses were built in such a way that the most important offices were at the top while the lower ranks were at the bottom, so she decided to make her way upwards with silent steps.

She did her best to hold onto her camouflage considering there were security cameras in the corner of each flight. If she was going to pick a path to go to, now is the time. Finally making it to the top story, Elemiah made hurry steps to the door…

…only to find it _locked_.

"Crap," she muttered under breath.

Holding up her trident she touched the tips of the prongs lightly upon the door handle as it suddenly froze over. Then upon seconds of being tapped again by the prongs, the handle and inside lock shattered, allowing her access within at the last second just as her camouflage wore off. Suddenly upon hearing voices coming from what seemed like a long hallway, she held her breath and waited. Two guards rushed by upon radio chatter of being needed in a separate location. After they passed she finally let out a silent deep breath, feeling like her heart was racing. Turning around to make sure no one could come through the same doorway, she rested her Trident against the door as ice formed within the nooks and crannies, keeping it frozen shut for the time being.

Leaning up against the walling, she carefully inched out her head so she could look down both ways. No one was currently in sight.

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

Elemiah lightly gasped as she quickly picked up the phone so as not to alert anyone of the ringing nearby.

"I'm here."

"Where are you?"

"I'm on the top floor, or at least I'm going to assume it's the top. The side entrance was an entry to a stairwell. I followed it up as high as I could go."

"Good, you're on the right path. By the way, don't worry about the security cameras. They're currently out of commission."

"What? How?"

"I hacked them. They're in a recorded loop."

Elemiah did a double take as she realized what the mask man just said.

"Wait…_you're_ my back up?"

"That's right."

"Wh…Why didn't you just tell me?"

"I wanted to see how committed you were to your assignment. Besides, even if you had decided to back out at this point, you added as a nice distraction for the guards, allowing me access with ease."

Elemiah chuckled lightly as she continued to look around the corners, "Oh I see how it is. I'm the pawn in all this?"

"Technically we're all a pawn, but I wouldn't exactly put it that way. You're more of the _Bishop_."

"The Bishop? That's a pretty high rank isn't it?"

"Depends on how you look at it. You're more of the _representation_ of the religion."

"The religion being _The Order_. And let me guess, you're the king?"

"In a manner of speaking—"

"—because if the king is captured—"

"—then everything falls apart."

"Right. So now what do I do?"

"Play your part."


	3. The Show Must Go On

**The Show Must Go On**

"Just to give you a heads up I'm going to set off a fire alarm."

"There's no need for that. You can't save all the Human lives in the building."

"I agree. I can't save _all of them_, but I'll do what I can to get the vast majority out. Besides, that's not the only purpose behind the alarm."

There was silence between the two before the masked man intuitively jumped, "You're going to create panic."

"Yes. Naturally most of everyone will leave the building, putting the guards in a shamble. They'll have so much on their hands they won't know what to do with it, giving us an even bigger ease to finish our quest."

"Heh, very good. In that case, by all means…_proceed_. I won't be able to meet up with you for a while so stay on your toes."

Hanging up their phones, the two infiltrators continued their journeys to take down the massive theater. Seeing that the coast was clear, Elemiah scurried down the long hallway until she reached the fire alarm she spotted from before. Quickly pulling down the handle caused the alarms all over the building to go off, triggering a panic she was hoping for as the patrons of the theater began to run out the building under the sprinkler system on the ceilings. The lighting in all areas faded as red spinning lights turned on instead, giving a red glow to the surroundings. Going further down the hallway, Elemiah cut a corner only to run into a couple of guards that were coming down it.

"Uh oh."

"Hey, HEY YOU!"

Elemiah drew her trident defensively as she took a stance. Before the guards had a chance to say anything, she angled her trident and shot out multiple icicles that upon impact froze the guards in place, completely engulfing them in an icy casing. The attack itself is not deadly as it merely keeps its target from progressing let alone moving, giving Elemiah plenty of time to make a break for it as she ran past them and down another hallway.

"Damn it, where the hell is the main office?"

It was then a second later that she came upon an office building map that was typically found like in any major office building. Taking a second to look at it, she quickly memorized directions to the main office, although at this point she guessed that Thomas probably wouldn't be in his office with everything going on let alone if he even had gone into his office, but it was worth a shot checking out especially if the main controls to the projectors could be found there.

"Hope my partner is doing alright," she wondered aloud to herself, but she figured the head of a major secret organization could probably take care of themselves just fine. There were so many questions she wanted to ask and looked forward to finally meeting the masked man himself.

Taking a couple of rights and a left, Elemiah finally made it to the door of the main office. The door itself was bigger than the rest and was plated with a fancy name tag that was engraved with Thomas' name.

_deep breath_

A bad feeling hit Elemiah's chest; something wasn't right. To play it safe she cast her cloaking chant. Then, slowly turning the door handle she entered inside. Upon entering, the room was also under a red spinning glow like the rest of the theater, but the sprinkler system was off within this location. The room itself seemed like a studio apartment with accommodations of a dining table surrounded by chairs that sat upon a reddish clay colored paneled floor, another area with a couch and coffee table that was symmetrically placed in front of a small fake fireplace, a liquor bar to the left of the couch area and a higher platform floor to the right of the room that was curtained off with windows behind them and accented with hanging thin light poles. The most noticeable piece of the room however was the enlarged flat projection screen that was in front of the couch and sat above the fake fireplace. A movie was playing, but no sound. Elemiah carefully looked around and saw that the room had no occupants.

Upon looking at the projection screen, Elemiah noticed that the projector itself was built into the wall on the opposite side of the room, past the dining area and in a darkened location where electrical panels sat in conjunction with multiple viewing screens. Moving over and taking a closer look, Elemiah found multiple switches and buttons that appeared to be controls to various locations of the building, but none of which gave any indication or made much sense of what exactly they were for. It was then upon noticing one of the monitor screens that Elemiah saw a strange sight. Looking closely she for the first time got a full body visual of the masked man as he crept around the hallways.

"That's him, but what floor is he on?" She wondered aloud in a small whisper to herself, but before she could touch anything upon the electrical panel her cloaking chant dissipated.

"So, there's more than one of you," a voice interrupted her as she spun around to be faced with Thomas McGuire himself who stood on the other end of the room in front of the projection screen as part of the film played out on his skin and clothing, his eyes glowing a bright red.

A chill fired up Elemiah's spine as she found herself caught red handed and in a staring contest, her eyes glowing a bright yellow from emotional fluxes.

"You must be part of _The Order_."

"I _am_ The Order," she bluffed in a lie hoping to keep Thomas' attention focused on her so as to draw it away from the masked man's.

"The Order…run by a woman? I find that hard to believe," he mocked openly in sarcasm as he began to approach her, calling out her bluff.

Taking on a defensive stance, Elemiah held out her trident in front of her, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Thomas could only chuckle in response, "And what do you plan to do with that little fork of yours…make a salad for me?"

Elemiah snickered in equal mockery of the man's robust shape, "Now that you mention it, you could use a little weight loss."

Thomas frowned. He wasn't particularly fond of fat jokes as the glow in his eyes intensified.

"Just so we're _clear_, you're not walking out of here _alive._"

"My thoughts _exactly_," Elemiah agreed, watching carefully of Thomas' movement.

Without a moment's notice, the entire room began to shift and morph as Thomas dragged her into Limbo, the ground beneath Elemiah breaking apart into large chunks causing her to nearly fall between the separate islands that were connected by enlarged film strips. The ceiling itself exploded upward into boulder sized walls that were jagged in shape and black in color. The projection screen that was in the room originally, floated about idly with nothing connected to it as it glowed a bright white like a movie screen while the rest of the area was a dark black void. Standing upon a floating island Elemiah quickly glanced around to get a feeling of her surroundings, finding that Thomas himself was gone and instead was inside the moving sections of the enlarged film strips that floated about in the area into a never ending stream of nothingness. The strips themselves seemed to go on forever with Thomas' face plastered all over them as he cackled in echoes.

"I hope you like horror films, because you're about to be the star of the show!"

"Heh, if that's the case I better get a standing ovation."

Thomas' laughter continued to echo from the film strips as demonic cloud shards suddenly appeared in groupings around her. Within the middle of the shard groupings glowed a fiery red as they began to spin in the air violently. Elemiah stood idly without worry as she took her trident and clicked it down upon the ground as she was engulfed in an icy shield seconds before the demonic shards attacked her, breaking into the shield until there was nothing left of them, the shield itself shattering to show that Elemiah had gone untouched.

"So that utensil isn't just for show."

"How about we just get this over with and you come out and face me?"

Thomas continued to cackle, "You must be _eager to die_."

"Don't underestimate me!"

Without hesitation, Elemiah pointed her Trident at the giant white glowing screen as she fired off high velocity icicles, but instead of making impact, they were swallowed up whole into the screen. Seconds later the screen flashed as the icicles were fired back at her as she barely was able to dodge the attack.

"Now that's what I call an _instant replay!_"

"Your jokes are about as bad as this rerun. Stop playing games and fight me!"

"Ha, ha, ha! Why fight you now when the show has only _just begun?!_"

With no given warning, the platform island that Elemiah was standing on suddenly flipped upside down, causing her to fall straight into a film strip that was floating beneath the platform. Using her trident she shielded herself again to absorb any type of impact, but instead of hitting the film strip dead on, she was instead _absorbed into it._ After falling within the dimension of the strip, she was cast down upon a flat ground that was entirely blue like an flat ocean. On either side of her were two enormous film strips that acted as walls that stretched on into eternity like a never ending single hallway. Within each square paneled section of the strips were different images playing. Upon closer observation the images seemed to display the happenings of the outside world. One square section showed the panicking people outside. Another section showed some views of the city as if it were in the appearance of its Limbo form.

Elemiah was suddenly interrupted as demons appeared; a group of Stygians, some flying Bathos, and a Tyrant. Her only path of going forward or backward was completely blocked off. One of the Stygians near her came charging as she fired an icicle at it, causing it to be pushed aside into the film strip wall to the right of it. As it hit impact with the strip, it got absorbed into the nearest playing section and entered into the world of that section without any way to get back.

"So, you can enter any section at will. If that's the case—"

_Screech, screech!_

The flying Bathos began to fire little bombs as Elemiah quick stepped away from the areas of explosion.

"I don't have time for this," she muttered as she raised her left hand and formed her fingers into a gun like shape with the last two fingers curled down, the index and pointing finger stretched out and pressed together, and the thumb sticking straight up with the wrist curled upward.

"Foedere laedere quaerit!"

Yelling one of her common chants, the lower ranked demons found themselves physically bound by some type of spiritual binding and unable to move or attack, leaving only the Tyrant for Elemiah to deal with. The oversized powerhouse clicked its morning star palms together before it began to charge at her. Using her demon powers, her pure white trident glowed a demonic red as she pierced the end of it into the ground as enlarged fiery icicle spikes came piercing out at the last second just as the Tyrant was above them. The spikes drove into the Tryant's body and began to burn it like the effects of touching dry ice. The creature cried out as Elemiah lifted her staff and struck it with a fiercer strike into the ground, causing the spikes to grow rapidly upward, taking the Tryant with it as it caused a chain reaction within its body and exploded, the chunks hitting upon the ground into spiritual shatters.

Despite her human side watering down the affects of her overall power, it didn't stop the devastation that her attacks could do if timed correctly and used with careful strategy. However, it was because of her human side that she had to do this as quickly as possible. It would only be a matter of time before Limbo would eat her essence alive, her human side only allowing her to be in Limbo for limited periods of time, leaving her with limited usage of her powers as well. While the lower demons were still bound she made a run for it, quickly studying each section of the film strips to see if she could find a rift, a location to one of projectors that needed to be taken out, Thomas himself, or if possible the masked man. Half way down from running, the binding chant on the lower demons weakened as they broke free and began to give chase to her, more demons appearing in their wake as they followed in a giant group. She didn't have the luxury of fighting all of them off as she desperately tried to look through all the sections of the film strips.

Some of the Stygians began to gang up on her, but just at the last second she saw a section of film that showed the location of the masked man. Then with one big lunge, she gambled with fate and threw herself into the moving section as she was teleported into the dimension of that film. After teleporting to the other side, Elemiah found herself falling from midair and at a rather high altitude. With second glances around her she realized the masked man too had been dragged into Limbo and that the area he was in was similar to the one Elemiah was in when Thomas confronted her. Verum was currently fighting two Dreamrunners. One of them came charging at Verum, but at the last second teleported behind. Verum however was familiar with this sort of move as he did his own teleportation and came out behind the Dreamrunner, stabbing it through from behind with his sword and killing it instantly. That only posed as a mere distraction as the second Dreamrunner used that moment to attack from above.

While in free fall, Elemiah pointed her trident and fired a group of icicles at the Dreamrunner, impacting it with multiple shots. This caught Verum's attention as he looked above him and then swing his sword upward as an airborne slicing attack was fired and the Dreamrunner was cut in half. Once the demon was diminished Verum was then able to look upon the angelic sight that was freefalling from the sky as angel wings had spread out from Elemiah's back, allowing her to carefully float downward to the floating island that the masked man stood upon. Finally landing directly in front of him, her wings then molted and disappeared. The two stood silently within the moment as this is the first time they are meeting in person.

"You're an angel," the masked man stated nearly in awe. Elemiah was much more beautiful in person than from what he saw on the video cameras that carefully watched her. She was completely adorned in white robbing that was accented with small gems on the edging and tips. She looked as properly attired as he did, both in elegance and in talking manner. Her hair was finely curled in the front and back that was lightly colored in a golden brown. Her eyes were the most striking feature as they were colored like the sun itself, a sparkling yellow.

"You're…_partially_ right."

"Partially? Are you saying…that you're Neph—"

"—no. I'm not Nephilim, but before we get into who or _what_ I am, I can't help but wonder how you came in possession of Yamato."

The masked man stood silently for a moment, a bit in wonder as to who this woman really was and how she so easily recognized his weapon.

"Only one man owned that sword and you are _not_ him. So who _are you_?"

Another pause shifted in the moment before Verum took in a deep breath as he replied while removing his mask, "It seems you are more informed than I anticipated…" the mask finally gone as the man's face was revealed "…my name…is Vergil."

She lightly gasped while repeating his name in question, "Vergil?"

He nodded.

Another chill went up her spine as she took in his appearance. His attire was beautiful and properly fitted. The black coat was adorned with light grey paisley designs while at the bottom and side of the front panel was embroidered with metallic blue floral threading. His gloves were like the blue of the lining of his coat that covered over blue pants that were striped and ended at the bottom on top of black buckled dress shoes. Everything about him was so proper and finely detailed and of course the most striking feature was his face; cleanly shaven and topped with a head of silver white hair that was properly fashioned in style. His eyes were the first and last feature she looked upon in a double instance, finding it a bit difficult to look away from them as they looked back at her through grayish blue orbs. Overall he was a beautiful man and much more than she assumed from the appearance of his viral videos.

"And Yamato…you're…you're a son of—" Vergil quickly covered her mouth to keep her from speaking "—don't…speak his name. If you know who I am, then nothing more needs to be said."

Elemiah nodded lightly as he removed his hand from her mouth, placing the mask back on his face.

"That explains everything; why you reached out to me, why you created The Order. Now it all makes sense."

"My existence is rarely known to others so I'd like to keep it that way, but at least you know now. The less I have to explain the better."

"I understand. Normally I'd go into pleasantries upon meeting someone, but now is not the time. We need to hurry and take this place down," she urged as she turned her back and began to continue onward.

"Agreed, but you could at least give me your name."

The angelic being than stopped and paused for a moment before looking over her shoulder as she answered, "Elemiah."


	4. Rising Action

**Rising Action**

This Limbo world of floating islands and enormous floating film strips was not as complex as other Limbo worlds, but it wasn't _any less dangerous_. One false move and it would be an endless fall into nothingness, swallowing you up whole. Who knows if there was even a bottom in this empty void that Elemiah and Vergil ventured through?

"So, have any idea where to go? Or am I just _pretending_ to lead the way?"

"No, you're fine. I was initially going in that direction. There are quite a few more projectors than I originally had guessed; twenty to be precise."

Stopping in her tracks, Elemiah spun around in shock, "Twenty?! Are you serious?"

"Are you really surprised? You saw the size of the theater. It's the third largest in the world. It's only natural it would have that many separate screening areas, however the amount of projectors it seems are different in Limbo. In the Human realm there are twenty or more, but…in Limbo…there is _only one_."

"Well that…narrows it down a bit," smiling lightly at the irony.

"There's really only one source that is connected to all the other cameras through a network or in the case of Limbo, a _spiritual network_ for lack of better words. If we find the source and take it out, then there won't be any more demonic chants. It'll have a ricocheting affect. Of course that's not going to mean anything unless Thomas is taken out. Did you manage to find him?"

Elemiah sighed almost shamefully. The last thing she wanted to do was report that she couldn't finish her part of the mission.

"Yes, but…I didn't even get a chance to attack him before he threw me into Limbo and got me teleported to some other part of this realm. And then I found you."

"I see. Well, we'll get another chance. We'll have to if we're to end this ordeal entirely."

Vergil took a few steps past Elemiah as he began to lead the way, Elemiah following from behind without hesitation.

"These demon masters seem to have a common theme amongst them."

"Yeah? And what would _that be?_"

"Arrogance and _pride._ If Thomas felt we were a threat, he would have retreated by now, but like all the others he's underestimating us without truly knowing or understanding what we're capable of. This is advantageous because we won't have to worry about him leaving the foregrounds. I'm sure he'll just play cat and mouse until he gets bored and eventually will show himself."

"Sounds about right."

It wasn't long before their footsteps lead them to the edge of the platform they were on, discovering that a few feet below the platform was the beginning of a giant flat film strip that seemed to lead onward never endingly.

"This looks promising."

"Hm?"

"I think we should follow this," Elemiah encouraged with a hunch.

"Assuming we can even jump on that thing," Vergil analyzed as he lightly threw one of his spirit swords at it only to watch as it bounced right off the surface, giving the appearance that it's solid.

"Seems solid enough, only one way to find out," the angel commented as she jumped off the edge of the platform, causing Vergil to nearly have a miniature heart attack as he wasn't expecting her to do such a thing without having further evidence to show that this was a safe move to pull. However, she landed perfectly upon the surface without falling through.

"Sorry, didn't mean to worry you..." she chuckled lightly with a wink, noticing the look of light concern on his face "…come on, I think it'll be fine for now. Let's follow this thing and see what kind of _ending it has._"

Lightly smiling back he replied "…alright, we'll do it your way…" as he then angel glided downward upon the flat thin surface.

"Heh, I keep forgetting you have powers. I'm guess I'm just not used to meeting others like…well…like me."

"Likewise," Vergil agreed as he continued onward alongside Elemiah.

The onward journey was silent for a moment as the two looked around while taking in observations of their surroundings, looking for clues or hints to help guide them to the right path to find the projector or Thomas. There seemed to be none in sight however. Even the sectioned panels in the film strips were blank, only displaying white noise.

"The answer to this is probably obvious, but…why did you start the order?"

"The war between angels and demons has existed for over a millennia. It was nine millennia ago Mundus rose through the ranks and took over as I'm sure you already know. I established The Order to help find a way to fight the demons and take back control. He runs the world like it's a farm for human souls through various insidious manipulations that you've already been witness to, but luckily haven't fallen prey to it."

"I…haven't gone completely untouched," Elemiah corrected sadly.

"I'm not surprised. I'm sure all of us have at least _once_ fallen victim to Mundus' game. My reasons for creating The Order are simple enough, but I'm sure you already figured that out on your own."

"I see…but it's not that simple…_is it?_"

Vergil looked over at her with a curious expression.

"You think so? Well then, enlighten me."

"Well…I don't mean this as an insult or anything, but…you don't seem…like the _charismatic type._"

"What do you mean?"

"There are many different types of leaders, and certain foundations are run by specific personalities. The kind of foundation you're trying to lay out is usually run by very emotionally passionate, radical idealistic individuals, but you? I've only known you for barely a day, but from what I've observed, you don't come off that way _at all_ and nothing is ever…_what it seems_."

The steadfast Nephilim cocked an eyebrow. Elemiah was highly perceptive and already she was reading him like an open book, but just how far could her reading go? He found it slightly annoying as it was equally intriguing. He had never met an individual like her before, finding it amusing to play out this mental game and see where she would take it.

"Interesting. So…how _does it_ seem to you?"

"It seems to me that…you're not really in this for _just the Humans_. You yourself are not Human so I can't help but wonder what your true reasons are for The Order, but that's not to say that you're any less unsympathetic, just that…individuals like you…_and me_…need a deeper more _connected_ drive to take such risks, to give us reason. For you, something is missing from the equation."

Vergil lightly chuckled, shaking his head at how easily Elemiah processed the little information she had, but he felt he could trust her enough to at this point oblige her pondering.

"Something _is_ missing…" he paused before finally answering "…my brother. He's the key…to _all of this_. With him, two Nephilim…we can take down Mundus."

"Right…of course. Nephilim. The legendary key to taking down a demon king."

"Which brings us to our next question…have you met him? Do you have any information on him? I've been looking for a long time, but I cannot find him."

"No…I'm sorry. I don't have any information on him let alone what he even looks like. It's possible I could have bumped into him once or twice, but I would have never known."

"I see. Well then my search will just have to continue, but with your abilities I'm sure it will quicken the pursuit."

"Wait…is…i-is that my official welcome to The Order?"

The two paused in step as Vergil turned towards her with a proper positive expression, "More like an _unofficial one._ It's difficult to consider it official if we never make it out of here."

Elemiah then genuinely smiled with a chuckle, a light blush forming on her cheeks as she found it difficult to meet his gaze, even through that mask, "Ha, ha, well when you put it that way—"

_Crackle. Crackle. Noise._

Suddenly Elemiah was cut off from speaking upon the audible sound of white noise from the film strip they were standing on as it unexpectedly turned a bright red.

"HA, HA, HA, HA! Well what do we have here…_both_ intruders? What a perfect opportunity to take out _two birds with one stone_."

Thomas' voice echoed as his face suddenly appeared in each section of the film strip, one of the faces right below the feet of Elemiah and Vergil, as they quickly moved away from it.

"This has all been quite the entertainment, but I think your time has _run its course_."

"Man, where's a mute button when you need one," Elemiah lightly mocked.

"I think you need an attitude adjustment, you little _bitch_," Thomas jeered in irritation from her snide remarks.

"Careful, it's not a good idea to use all the words in your dictionary."

Without warning, the film strip began to quake and suddenly black bouldering spikes shot up from the strip, splitting Vergil and Elemiah up as they were shot back quite a few feet.

"Vergil!" Elemiah cried out his name, fearing for his safety, but she didn't have time to comprehend the concern as she looked behind her to find that bouldering spikes were shooting up from the opposite direction, getting deathly closer to her and only leaving a few seconds to react. Without hesitation her angel wings shot out from her back, allowing her to jump into the air with swift movements just at the last second when the last grouping of spikes shot up where she originally stood. Maneuvering her body around she got a glimpse of Vergil's situation. His end too was seconds from being closed up with bouldering spikes. With split second maneuvers Elemiah landed next to Vergil, flipped his left arm around her shoulder and then lifted off just before the spikes shot up. Using her angel abilities, she lifted herself and Vergil up to the nearest floating platform, landing perfectly upon it as her left hand pressed gently upon Vergil's chest to help steady herself and him when her feet touched the ground.

Quickly looking over him she asked with concern, "Are you alright?!"

Vergil was a bit taken back. Everything had happened so quickly let alone the fact that Elemiah was stronger than she appeared, being able to lift both them up effortlessly. Most of all the expression on her face and her gentle touch upon his chest brought a strange sense of comfort to him. The last time he had even seen an angel, let alone felt their gentle touch was when his mother was still alive. It was a very strange moment as a glimmer of a glow shined from his amulet.

"Yes I'm…I'm fine," he finally answered as Elemiah got out from under his arm and let her wings molt away.

She let out a deepened breath, smiling lightly to see that he had gone untouched.

"Good. I thought for a second that…well…it doesn't matter. I guess walking on the film strips is out of the question."

"That goes without saying," Vergil agreed, his calm composure quickly returning as he put Yamato back in its sheath.

"Looks like Thomas left us again," Elemiah remarked as she looked around, but didn't see him in sight let alone his hideous demonic cackle.

"I'm sure he'll be back," Vergil reassured as he began to walk off towards some floating islands to the left that interconnected with smaller film strips.

"Wait…" the angel urged as she lightly grabbed Vergil by the arm "…do you hear that?"

The Nephilim's eyebrows furrowed as he asked back, "Hear what?"

"That…chanting. It sounds like it's in a demonic tongue."

The two stood idly as they listened to the sounds around them.

"You're right, there is a chant of some kind."

"It's faint…but it's gotta be the projector we're looking for. It sounds like it's coming from over here," she insisted as she began to make her way towards the right. However, it was a only a few feet of walking before Elemiah became faint, tilting lightly side to side as she tried to keep her balance. Vergil quickly went up beside her as he asked with concern, "Are you okay?"

Elemiah wanted to tell Vergil why she was becoming weaker, why they had to hurry to get to a rift, but her fear overruled her logic. She feared that it would gravely change his perception of her if he knew she was part human. She wasn't ready to reveal those things about herself just yet and so she played it off like it was nothing.

"I…just overused my powers a little too much. I should be fine. Let's keep going," she encouraged after regaining her balance and continued to walk on. Vergil may not have a high intuitive perception as Elemiah's, but he wasn't one to easily fool. He couldn't help but get the sense that Elemiah was hiding something, but he decided to leave it be…

_…for now._

Before they could enjoy a relative moment of peace, Thomas' echoing laugh once again appeared, but he himself could not be seen. Then, the floating platform that Vergil and Elemiah stood on started to quake as the islands around them began to tumble and merge inward.

"Shit, we need to move!" Elemiah burst out as she swiftly began running, Vergil following beside her as they started jumping from platform to platform.

"HA, HA, HA, HAAaaaaaAAAAaaaah! You will never escape this place!"

"God that's obnoxious," Elemiah commented aloud.

"This doesn't change anything. We keep following the sound of the chants and eventually it should lead us to where we need to go."

Enormous sized boulders that look like they were sliced off the side of a mountain were colliding inward from the sides as the platforms Elemiah and Vergil jumped upon were quickly cracking into smaller chunks, but they didn't have too much trouble making their way around as they were still making progress to their destination.

"The chants, they're getting louder!"

"Then our target must be close!"

After some time of jumping between moving and tilting platforms, the two landed upon what seemed like the main foregrounds of the area. It was mostly all flat and easily the size of a football field…or two. Upon landing, they were quickly confronted with a group of demons; two Tyrants, a Witch, five Bathos and three Hell Knights. The two stood for a moment to catch their breath, Elemiah more so than Vergil as they each pondered their own attack strategies.

"Oh look, he sent us a greeting party," the angel jested.

"Well then, lets not keep them waiting," Vergil playfully jested back as he quick drew Yamato, Elemiah forming her trident.

"The Tyrants are easy enough to dodge and can easily collide into each other or the Hell Knights. It's the other groups I'm worried about getting rid of first since they cause the most trouble."

"Agreed. I'll take out the Bathos while you attend to the Witch."

"Done."

With renewed breath, the two darted past each other in a crossing formation as they quickly confronted their targets. Vergil was taking out the Bathos with ease as he quick fired his spirit swords in a full array at each individual one. Elemiah on the other hand felt at a natural effortlessness when using her angel powers. Although her demon powers could be just as formidable, she felt closest to her angel powers as they were quicker and took less energy overall as she formed a row of icicles in mid air and clicked down her trident upon the ground as the icicles went flying, penetrating the shielding bubble that surrounded the Witch, causing it to pop and ultimately leaving her vulnerable. With an angelic lift into the air she came crashing down with the prongs of her trident as they pierced through the Witch's body, pinning it into the ground as it immediately began to freeze the demon from the inside out until it exploded into icy chunks.

"Elemiah! Watch your guard!" Vergil yelled to get her attention as she immediately looked at him, but then looked behind herself as she saw a Drekavac speeding towards her. Angling her Trident, she was ready to block the incoming attack, however Elemiah was not the target of the Drekavac as it stopped an inch in front of her before teleporting to its new target.

"Vergil! Behind you!"

With a short second reaction, Vergil lifted his Yamato as it barely blocked an incoming sword slash, but the Drekavac carried more than one weapon as it slammed down it's second sword with a mid air strike, crashing down upon Vergil's mask and breaking it cleanly in two.

"No!" Elemiah cried out as she was about to rush over to him before a Tryant came barreling her way. Seeing it upon the last second she angel dodged out of the way before it trampled her, sliding along the ground a little as she regained her balance. With its back turned, she took the crucial moment to raise up a binding attack as water suddenly appeared from the ground. Moving her arm in circular motions, the water began to swirl around the Tyrant until it froze into a giant icicle, holding it in place for the time being.

"Just like old times, huh?" She spoke aloud to her Trident. It had been a very long time since she had last used such water attacks. Fond memories of first receiving her weapon was quickly diminished however as the second Tyrant came barreling over to join the party, but she refused to move as she waited for the creature to come to her. Using a timed attack, she was just about to move out of the way for the Tyrant to crash into the other, but before the demon could take another step, suddenly the ground beneath it erupted into an upward lava explosion as it was knocked over to the side. Then seconds later, the Tyrant behind her exploded upon a wave of crisscrossing spiritual slash attacks that had been fired from a distance. And out from the ruckus and debris emerged the Nephilim.

"Vergil," Elemiah spoke his name in relief to see that he had gone unharmed as he landed down from mid air in front of her. She couldn't help but be glad that his masked had been knocked off now that she could finally see his real face again.

"Interesting weapon you've got there. Does it have a name?"

Elemiah smirked as she replied, "Poseidon."


	5. Climax

**Climax**

"Poseidon? Heh, I should have known considering you control the element of water with a trident like the Greek god himself."

"More or less. I thought the name was most appropriate."

"Indeed. What else can you do?"

A grin caught the corner of Elemiah's mouth as she answered, _"Plenty."_

The remaining Tyrant and Hell Knights growled and grunted, ready to come at the two as a group, but Elemiah had no problem stopping them all at once as she raised her trident and then struck it downward, digging the end of it into the ground a few inches. Seconds later the remaining group of demons were encased in icy coffins that froze them still for a temporary remainder of time.

"This will buy us from wasting unnecessary energy that will most likely be needed to take down Thomas. The chanting is nearly clear enough for me to understand what its saying. We should be very close now. Come on," she urged…_lightly out of breath_.

Something wasn't right. Elemiah was nearly sweating on the brow with strands of her hair stuck to her forehead from the perspiration. Vergil knew they had been on the mission for a while, but something dug at his perception that he was no longer going to ignore.

"You seem tired."

Just as the angel had taken a few steps forward, she jerked lightly to a stop, looking at Vergil over her shoulder in questionable response, "What?"

"Is this a normal stamina for you or have you rarely ever been to Limbo?"

Trying to keep a calm composure, Elemiah faced Vergil.

"What's that supposed to mean? We've been on this mission for well over _two hours_, fighting in between while running around. So, yeah I'm going to be a _little tired._"

"I see. Is that all?"

Elemiah's eyebrows furrowed, but her cool and calm composure didn't falter as she simply replied, "Unless you want to have another tea party with Thomas, it would be best if we keep going while we're so close to the projector."

"I agree…" Vergil concurred with her statement as he placed Yamato back in its sheath, taking a few steps forward "...time is of the essence. We can't stay in here forever…" taking just a few steps _closer to her_ with a slightly colder stature to hopefully intimidate her with his approach to get some answers "…the longer we stay the more we are at risk of being trapped…_but_…you move forward with a haste that seems veiled over by a _hidden anxiousness._"

Elemiah's stomach fluttered lightly by Vergil's steps now that he was but a feet or two in front of her, his calm grayish blue eyes staring back at her as if analyzing every twitch of movement or placement of words. Ironically he seemed more intimidating with his real face then with the mask.

"I don't follow—"

"—I think you do," he narrowed his gaze.

"Whatever the point of this conversation is, it needs to be put on hold. We need…to _go_," she heavily urged.

"It may not look it at first glance, but you're _fatigued_. You say it's because of overusing your powers, but I think you're _smarter than that_. Your _motivation_ is to join The Order. I doubt you would risk your chance at proving yourself worthy by tiring yourself long before the mission is over. Is there something you want to tell me?"

His gaze became a little too much as she quickly turned away and took a few steps forward.

"Elemiah…" he spoke her name with a strong yet gentle tone "…the purpose of The Order is to hide, work behind the scenes, and strike when the time is right, but you do not have to _hide yourself from me._"

She paused, wanting to trust in his words. They had a way of striking a chord, but her fear still held her back.

"Vergil, I—"

_Crack. Crack. Crack._

Suddenly, the ice that held the demons shattered to pieces as they finally broke free, alarming Elemiah and Vergil as the Nephilim withdrew Yamato once again and the angel wielded Poseidon in a defensive stance.

"Damn it, it wore off."

_Grunt. Moooooan. Rawr!_

Alongside the Tyrant and the three Hell Knights arose six other Hell Knights, all of which were _hell bent_ on killing the two.

"Elemiah, take care of the Tyrant. I'll handle the Hell Knights. _Then_ we'll move forward without further interruption."

Although Vergil had a digging curiosity of knowing just exactly what it was Elemiah was hiding, he was still under the assumption that she had no demon powers since earlier on their journey when questioning her, she stated she was not of the Nephilim race. So naturally he sent her off to fight the Tyrant while taking care of the Hell Knights since any other attack other than demon powers were the most efficient at taking them out. To help speed things along, Vergil unleashed his doppelganger ability, creating a shadow clone of himself that mimicked his moves at his command. Using his demon powers, Vergil started attacking the nearest enemies with hard hitting downward strikes that blazed with fire upon the edge of the blade. The doppelganger joined in with the strikes, hitting upon two Hell Knights that are just as close in distance. However, with the Nephilim and his shadow brother occupied, this gave a chance for a couple of Hell Knights to gang up on Elemiah who was still busy with the Tyrant.

The enlarged beast went barreling past Elemiah as she dodged to the side, it's back turned towards her, giving her a clear shot to strike as she jumped into the air and came crashing back down in an angled strike with her Trident as Poseidon was driven through the demon's neck. It moaned aloud as it didn't quite kill it yet, Elemiah planted upon its back and clinging to her weapon as the Tyrant tried to shake her off. Being swung side to side nearly loosened Elemiah's grip until suddenly it paused to try to grab her. Using this moment of stillness, Elemiah raised her hand as icicles formed out of thin air. Then with a forceful downward pull of her hand, Elemiah jumped off the Tyrant as the icicles rained down upon it, piercing even the thickest layer of its body until it finally exploded, it's spirit fading into the ethers.

_Sizzle. Sizzle. Sizzle._

"Ahhh!"

Vergil's attention was grabbed as he heard Elemiah screaming. Upon looking behind him he saw that two Hell Knights had ventured over to Elemiah and turned the ground into a burning furnace. The only way to escape the affects of this attack was for a Nephilim to activate their demon powers…but Elemiah stated she was _not Nephilim._

"Elemiah!" he yelled, leaving his doppelganger to finish off the remaining Hell Knight from the group they had attacked earlier as Vergil burst over towards Elemiah's direction using his teleportation technique. The angel was yelling from the fiery burning sensation of the ground beneath her feet, but by the time Vergil had made it within distance of her, he realized _she did not need help_. Slowly standing to her feet, Elemiah's body began to glow a reddish aura as her eyes shined like the burning sun. With a simple flick of her wrist, her Trident levitated over to her with a quick second jerk as she grabbed upon Poseidon, changing its color to a blackish entity that was engulfed in a fiery outline. Vergil stopped as he watched this angelic being glow with the colors of hell itself as the burning ground beneath her lost its affect.

_She had activated demon powers._

"You're not the only ones that can turn the ground into _fire_."

With her sights set on the two Hell Knights that attacked her, she spun her trident so that it was upside down and then lunged it into the ground as the prongs easily dug in. Seconds later, the ground beneath the Hell Knights had turned into lava, swallowing them whole like quicksand as they literally _melted into the ground_, their cries audibly heard. Vergil's doppelganger was now gone as Elemiah had finished off the last remaining enemies, the ground going back to normal as she went back to her normal state of being, but all was not well. The angel breathed heavily as she fell to one knee, her Trident being her only form of support as she leaned into it. Feeling an oncoming heave from her chest, she covered her mouth and coughed into it.

"Elemiah!" Vergil yelled her name again as he ran over to her and knelt down beside her just as she was falling over onto her side. With gentle arms he held her up and looked her up and down. She appeared uninjured at least on the outside, but obviously she was not okay. "No more hiding…" he shook his head, but expressed concern on his face "…you need to tell me what's going on."

Slowly she looked up into his eyes wearily.

"You displayed demon powers. I thought you said—"

"—I-I'm not…Neph…Nephili—"…her words cut short as she covered her mouth again, coughing into it a few times before pulling back her hand a bit to reveal that blood had been spat up.

Vergil's tone grew stronger as his face grew with more concern, quickly looking around to see that they were still alone as he brought his attention back to Elemiah who felt limp in his arms with a dead weight.

"I…" she hesitated at first before finally revealing "…am Triad."

Vergil's eyes widened as she continued to cough a bit more.

"Triad...I…I've heard of that before."

Locks of Elemiah's hair covered lightly over her eyes as Vergil brushed them back gently, the two locking gaze.

"The genetic bonding of angel and demon is inconceivable, but there is another kind that is even more of a taboo between our races."

It was then Vergil made the connection, now remembering what he had read so many years ago, but had no idea that even such a thing existed.

"You're not just of angel and demon blood. You're…

"…part _human._"

A bit astonished he repeated the word from his lips, "Human."

She lightly nodded in further explanation, "That is why…they call us the Triad race. We are of…three bloods."

Vergil paused for a moment as everything was beginning to make sense now before he finally asked, "Why didn't you tell me? Why would you risk your life coming here, knowing that Limbo would eat you alive?"

Elemiah lightly smiled as she replied faintly, "I was afraid…you wouldn't let me come if you knew I was part human. I was afraid…you wouldn't _give me the chance._"

Vergil shook his head, almost chuckling in response, "The entire order is made of humans. To turn you away just because of that would defeat the purpose of making The Order to begin with. There are other ways to prove yourself without having to risk your own life coming into Limbo."

Lifting her right hand, Elemiah gently stroked Vergil's face, "No…_there isn't._ You need more than just the help of the humans to accomplish what you're trying to do. You need something _beyond human_. This is the only way to prove myself. Simply telling you about my powers means nothing. It's something you have to see for yourself so that you will have no doubt in your mind of what I'm capable, so that you know _you can trust me._"

Vergil was a bit speechless as Elemiah removed her hand, slowly sitting up on her own. The coughing had stopped as she had regained a little energy back, enough to allow her to stand to her feet. With her back lightly turned, she looked upon her left glove that was stained with blood. If they didn't get out of Limbo soon, she would surely die.

"I risked my well being coming here because _that is all that matters._ I will do whatever it takes to gain your trust so that I can finally escape the limbo we truly live in and are blinded by. I will follow you to the gates of Hell if it means lifting the veil that Mundus has created. _That_ is my sole purpose."

Lowering her hand and grabbing her weapon, she faced Vergil who stood silently to listen to her words. They spoke willfully and true, unbending to the path ahead of them that seemed endless in nature.

"I am Elemiah, daughter to a human father and daughter to a Nephilim mother, but that is a story for another time."

Although Vergil knew eventually he would find his brother, he never imagined he would run into another being like himself, even if they were part human. It was comforting in many ways, especially since as he stated previously, the entirety of The Order was of humans. He was the only one that stood out from them and stood alone, but now…now that had changed upon meeting this girl…this Elemiah.

"Are you going to be able to make it?"

Taking a deep breath Elemiah answered back in tired breath, "Quite frankly? No…" she paused for a moment as they continued onward "…but, I need to explain a few things. As I'm sure you've already figured out, my human side limits my demonic and angelic powers. That isn't necessarily a problem however since I can make up for what I lack, in my knowledge of chants and abilities with weapon and fighting techniques. Strength is nothing if you can't catch your enemy, let alone outwit them. However, the biggest problem I have is my limitation of how long I can stay in Limbo. If I stay here too long than this place literally begins to eat me alive from the inside out. I will eventually die if I don't find a rift out of here."

"That explains your haste to leave…and holding back your powers."

"Yes. The more I use my powers here, the more wear and tear it does on my being, allowing Limbo to feed upon me like an open buffet. It makes me more…vulnerable to its affects. However, from the few times I've even been in Limbo, I've noticed that each time I'm able to stay a bit longer than before. I think with more short-burst exposures to Limbo, I'll eventually become nearly immune to its effects on my human side, but that takes time that I don't have let alone risking getting killed. It seems all of Limbo is infested with demons so I've never had a chance to strengthen my human blood's immunity to this place."

"I see. Well then it'll please you to know I have _cleansed_ certain areas of Limbo."

"Cleansed? You mean…completely wiped of demons?"

"Yes. You see, Limbo wasn't always like this. It's simply been misshapen by the demons to mimic their ugliness and cruelty, but with time I've cleaned a few areas that would be perfect for you to strengthen the immunity of your human side. Once we make it out of here, I can take you to those places."

Lightly smiling Elemiah replied, "That'd be great."

Upon approaching what seemed the edge of the main platform, the two looked up and noticed a grouping of floating film strips, all of which looked the same; empty panels filled with white noise _except for one_.

"Hey, look at that one," Elemiah pointed at the noticeably different floating film strip.

"It's got a glowing aura—"

"—and a single moving image throughout all the panels," Vergil added in commentary as they observed it and compared it to the other strips.

"That's it…that's where the projector is. The chants are coming from over there. Can you hear them?"

Vergil listened for a second before replying, "Yes, they're definitely in the demonic language."

Elemiah shook her head as she listened to the various subliminal messages that could be heard within the chants, "No wonder they're blinded."

"Hm?"

"It's exactly like the subliminal messaging fiasco in the 1950's…only this time around the messages aren't just telling humans to keep buying more concessions…its telling them to spend their money until there's _nothing left._ And when there's nothing left it's telling them to…" shaking her head again in disbelief "…use their credit cards…wait…what?!"

"Well, that explains the wealth of the theater…" Vergil commented in sarcasm "…and just one of many numerous resources that adds to the debt Mundus keeps building on humans."

Elemiah could almost laugh at the barbarism Mundus used to get control over the humans, "You've got to be kidding me. It's sick enough that they're being pumped with Virility as the only soda choice, but demonic chants making you rack up your credit card? It sounds so incredibly stupid just saying it—"

"—and yet it works. It keeps the humans in his control under a veil that they would never question. Instead of calling The Order a group of demon fighters, they call us _terrorists_; a term that is easily grasped by humans because there's nothing else for them to grasp on to. The better they can grasp onto the concept, the more they'll believe it."

"And you wonder why I'm risking my well being coming here? I'd rather die than to be forever chained by Mundus or any other demon lord for that matter."

Vergil glanced over at Elemiah for a moment, seeing the determination on her face and in her stance. He had no doubt in his mind now of the usefulness she would definitely provide to The Order, not to mention how willingly she gave it.

"Can you reach that distance?"

Elemiah glanced at Vergil with an awkward expression as she answered, "Uh…are you kidding me? I mean I know I've shown my angel wings before, but I can't actually fly with them. They help give me a natural boost to any jump or to help glide me along in the air."

"So that would be a no," he answered for her playfully.

"Well...I…" chuckling lightly "...normally _can_ jump such a distance even with another person in my arms, but that's usually when I'm at a _fuller strength_ and right now I'm not sure I can make the jump even by myself. I won't lie…I'm _pretty tired._"

With that said, Elemiah shrunk her weapon down into its deformed shape and stuck it to the side of her waist.

"I don't really have a choice though if we're to progress—"

"—actually you do have a choice. Here, hold this," Vergil interrupted as he handed her Yamato.

"Huh? What are you—wo, oh god!" Elemiah shrieked lightly as Vergil suddenly lifted her up in his arms bridal style as she clutched onto Yamato in her right hand while throwing her left arm around his shoulders in a nervous grasp. Her heart raced from being held in his arms, his gaze catching hers as he chuckled lightly.

"I have a few tricks of my own."

Then without hesitation, he backed up a small distance from the edge, ran forward and then leapt from the platform and disappeared into a smoky like substance, teleporting perfectly into the film strip as the two got absorbed into it.


End file.
